Monday, June 30, 2014

"Shooters" in Rifle

Chris and I enjoy many aspects of living in a small mountain town, but one of which is epitomized by this newspaper article printed in the paper of our neighboring town recently. This article is re-printed from the Glenwood Springs, Post Independent.

Shooters in Rifle serves a big helping of Second Amendment

RIFLE — When waitress Ashlee Saenz takes
your order at Shooters Grill in Rifle, she not only carries a pad and
pen — she also packs a loaded Ruger .357 Blackhawk handgun holstered on
her leg, Old West style.

It’s loaded and she knows how to use it.

Saenz and her co-workers, along
with customers who come into Shooters, are encouraged by Shooters’
owners to pack heat in the restaurant, as allowed by Colorado law.

The restaurant also hosts
concealed carry training — the $75 price tag includes dinner — that
qualifies customers for Colorado and Utah permits.

In a nation torn in recent years by
emotional Second Amendment debates, fueled in part by mass shootings,
there’s no such controversy in this town of 9,200 that’s centered in
ranch and natural gas country.

“We called it Shooters and started throwing guns and Jesus all over the place.” Lauren Boebert Owner of Shooters in Rifle

A sign on the front door of Shooters Grill
reads, “Guns are welcome on premises. Please keep all weapons
holstered, unless the need arises. In such cases, judicious marksmanship
is appreciated.”

Shooters owner Lauren Boebert of Rifle
said she is simply allowing customers and employees to exercise their
constitutional right.

“We encourage it, and the customers love
that they can come here and express their rights,” Boebert said. “This
country was founded on our freedom. People can come in carrying their
gun, and they can pray over their food.”

NO ALCOHOL, ‘GUNS ALL OVER’

Boebert was born in Florida, raised in
Aurora and moved to Rifle in 2003, where she met her husband, Jayson.
They decided to open a restaurant a little more than a year ago and
tried to come up with a good name that would suit the town.

“I consulted with my Christian friends and
everyone said ‘Shooters’ sounded like a bar or a strip joint,” Lauren
Boebert said with a laugh. “But I thought, this is Rifle — it was
founded around guns and the Old West. We called it Shooters and started
throwing guns and Jesus all over the place.”

The decor of Shooters — which offers
American and Mexican fare and does not serve alcohol — is decidedly Old
West, with guns and cowboy art on the walls, a rough-hewn woody look and
three large silver crosses that reflect Boebert’s strong religious
faith.

Customers on a recent morning had no problem with the gun presence.

Wayne and Martha Greenwald are from a
small town called Grand Marais in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and
come to Shooters whenever they’re in town. The couple fully support
allowing people to carry guns in the restaurant.

“We think it’s just fine — we’re very
positive about it,” Wayne Greenwald said. “We carry guns ourselves and
own a rifle, shotgun and handguns. We live in a very small town and we
take care of our own crime problems. No one comes to Grand Marais to
break into someone’s house.”

Said customer Madison Potter of Rifle, “It’s safe and it fits the town well.”

VIOLENCE IS RARE IN RIFLE

Violent crime is rare in Rifle — the
name, by lore, comes from when a cowboy surveyor left his gun leaning
against a tree alongside a creek. The town had its first-ever bank
robbery in May 2011, and reported no homicides and one robbery in 2013.

Police Chief John Dyer said the last
shooting death was in 2001, when Michael Steven Stagner shot seven
people, killing four. Stagner, who targeted Latinos and ranted about
illegal immigrants during his rampage, was found not guilty by reason of
insanity and is confined to a mental institution.

Dyer is OK with Shooters’
business model. “If it was a bar, I might be saying something different.
But I have no problem with it,” he said. “And besides, they make a
really good burger.”

The 55-seat restaurant also offers regular classes to qualify for a concealed carry permit — complete with dinner.

Held every other month, the five-hour training seminar is conducted by Utah-based Legal Heat,
which offers the classes around the country, usually at sports shops.
The event hosted at Shooters qualifies people to obtain concealed carry
permits in Colorado and Utah. The May class drew 25 people; the next
session is July 22. Boebert said she will offer the deal monthly if
demand is sufficient.

To get a concealed carry permit after the
training, residents must fill out an application and be fingerprinted.
Garfield County Sheriff Lou Vallario decides whether to issue permits
after reviewing applications and background checks.

“I encourage people to get a concealed
handgun permit,” Vallario said. “I think there’s this misunderstanding
that we can always be there. But I’ve got about one deputy per 1,000
people. People have the absolute constitutional right to protect
themselves.”

He said the county’s number of
permits and applications has been steady for several years. Through June
20 this year, the sheriff’s office has issued 124 new permits and 190
renewals (a permit is good for five years). That pace is down from 534
new permits issued and 277 renewals last year.

DON’T DRINK AND CARRY

The sheriff urges leaving guns at home in some situations.

“Guns and alcohol, just like alcohol and driving, are not a good mix together,” Vallario said.

Certain people, including convicted
felons or those with known substance abuse or mental problems, are not
allowed to possess firearms.

Colorado gun-control supporters say they favor concealed carry over open carry because of the permitting requirements.

“We stand behind the Second Amendment, but
we don’t encourage people to carry guns as a public display in places
like stores or restaurants,” said Jennifer Hope of Golden, the Colorado
chapter leader for the national Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in
America, founded in 2012 after the Sandy Hook school shooting in
Connecticut. “If there was a problem in a store and it got robbed or
something happened, how would you know who were the good guys and who
were the bad guys?”

It’s unlikely a whole lot of bad guys will
visit Shooters, but the guns the workers carry are the real deal. Some
people think it’s all part of a costume.

“No, they’re real and they’re loaded, and
we know what we’re doing,” Boebert said with a smile. “I fear for anyone
who tries to rob us.”